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I was rear ended by a driver playing with the radio, my car was totaled. It was my third day driving by myself. My parents forced me to drive to school the next day. My advice is just do it, eventually the fear goes away, now I don't even have dreams about the accident. However my recurring dream of being pushed in the pool with my cell phone won't go away.

If you can't press through those kinds of thoughts, consider talking to a therapist for a few sessions, just kind of get everything out. It sounds like something that could traumatize a person.

Coming from a guy who's kind of been in that situation, it is tough to shake. I watched my dads Jeep flip in the road as a kid. It was a fatal accident, and I got messed up by it. I didn't get in the driver's seat of a car until I was 22. Probably could have gotten over it sooner if I had professional help. No shame if you need it.

You know I wish I could tell you that you'll never be in another accident but I just can't. Not without lying to you. I came to driving late. I took driving school lessons for months. I'm the most careful driver you'll ever see. I do all the shit you're supposed to do in a car and I still have been nailed several times. I've been rear ended 3X. Once while sitting at a red stoplight for more than 2 mins by a guy who was so busy on his cell that he missed the red light completely as he came off a ramp. Once by some guy in a parking lot because he just backed right into my slot, didn't even look and came too far back. Once because some guy was fighting with his kids and just plowed into me. I had to have back surgeries as a result.

I've had a car totally die on me and crash, nearly landing me in a deep drainage ditch, and I very narrowly missed being flattened by an 18 wheeler whose driver was high and who for some unknown reason swung into a school parking lot in an out lane at about 45 mph and who missed killing me by about 6 inches. Every day I see people on the road here driving like maniacs and I have had to avoid being hit more times than I can tell you. It might just happen. You may someday get into a car and have an accident happen. All you can do is take a deep breath, get back in, and try to do the best job of driving that you can.

You will be nervous. But if you want to drive again you'll have to live with that for a while, maybe for longer than a while. If you are smart you'll remember that feeling even when you start to feel comfortable again. You'll keep a very close eye on what's going on around you and you will remember that shit can happen when you decide to get into a car. If you can't handle it? Well, that's why they have mass transit, and yes, I have actually gone to live in bigger cities that have it so I don't have to drive. It's hard not to. But you can live without driving if you have to, but I don't think that once you have had something like this happen that it ever really leaves you, that fear. I think it may make you a better driver though, maybe...

It should. Too many people not paying attention these days. Even good drivers get into accidents all the time. Cell phones, I hate them in cars. I think a lot of what's been going on is due to that. People texting or talking when driving. It's just gotten so prevalent. I see people narrowly avoiding accidents all the time because of phones, not using turn signals, doing asinine things that they know better than to do in a moving car. The more aware you are. The better off you'll be but you are still in a moving vehicle and while you can control yourself you can't control everyone else. I honestly don't drive now unless I have to. Driving ceased to be fun after about the 4th accident. Besides the majors I've been clipped by a guy trying to pass me who was on his cell phone, lost my mirror that time. I've had my car door bumped in a parking lot. Had a guy deliberately try to run his bike into me one time in another. Some kind of scam thing. In a car your attention has to 100% on your driving. No excuses. That's just it.

I'm going to sound like an asshole, but I have absolutely zero respect for people who fuck with other things while driving. I understand if you need to fiddle around with a GPS, but PULL OVER. There is absolutely no reason why you have to endanger yourself and others on the road. The text can wait. The call can wait. The GPS can be programmed while pulled over and stopped.

Missing a call will not kill you. However, a 75 mile per hour crash into a concrete barrier very well might.

My first, and only, accident was when a teenage girl bumped me from behind while on her fucking cell phone. There wasn't much damage, but I yelled at her and took her phone. I Got out, tapped on her window (she was still on the phone). She rolled down her window and I took the phone out of her hand and dropped it on the ground.

As you said, 100% of your attention needs to be on the road. There is no reason why you need to endanger yourself and other people.

One of the things that I hate the most is hearing "Well, what are the odds that it'll happen twice?". Well, what are the odds that it would happen once? I don't give a shit about the odds. So thank you for being honest in that respect.

I live in the largest city in the United States without mass transit. Go figure, haha. I don't think that it has made ME a better driver but I am quicker to recognize & react to unexpected things on the road. For the most part that has been a good development, haha.

You basically have to force yourself to reintegrate. Slowly, drive more and more until you're comfortable driving. It won't happen overnight and expect those first few drives to be full of anxiety, but you can't never drive again either.

I got a new motorcycle in 2010, and six hours into having her, I got turned into by some asshole and he ran after seeing if I was alright. I was more pissed than scared that someone would do that. With a motorcycle it's not a question of if you are going to get I to an accident, but when.

As long as you are prepared for the when you should be fine. As a new driver, you should be thinking of if, but be ready for the when.

25 months ago I had my first car accident and I broke my back for the first time.

18 months ago I had my second car accident and I broke my back for the second time.

What I learned from the first accident about beginning to drive again: BUY A MUSTANG WITH YOUR INSURANCE MONEY.

What I learned from the second accident about beginning to drive again: go to driving school and complete the requirements to reacquire your license.

I only really got afraid a couple times after the first one happened when I was crossing railroad tracks. I would think I'd see train lights just as I was passing the tracks and would feel the impact from the side again.

I didn't really have time to be scared of what was going to happen, so I guess it didn't really make a lasting impression on me. Each time I just spit out that awful taste you get from the thousands of chemicals and dust particles you just inhaled and then immediately try to find where my wallet/glasses/shoes went.

I've been in 4 accidents but was never the driver. In two of them the car I was in was totaled and in one of them two other cars were totaled but ours wasn't.

I just suck it up and move on. People who fear driving after an accident are the same people who quit riding motorcycles after an accident. You need to realize before you drive/ride that what you're doing is dangerous. I realize before I get on the road that driving is dangerous so when something happens it doesn't shock me.

I was driving back to university from spending a week at home along a highway where the limit was 110km/h. I was driving in the far lane, when a guy in a Land Cruiser pulled out straight in front of me from a side road, cutting off traffic in the lane next to me and almost killing the girls in the car next to me. I slammed on my breaks and the next thing I remember was being on the ground with a whole number of people around me. At the time they thought I had broken my back or my neck, but fortunately nothing came of it.
I was only driving a Hyundai Getz, which crashed into the back of the Land Cruiser and totalled my car.

Even though I was still really weepy the next day, my parents took me to a car yard and made me test drive a car. My dad made sure that I was back on the road the day after it happened. This was in November 2010 and I still flinch when someone pulls up to turn left onto the same road I am driving on.

I crashed my bike last year going 40mph.. 5 fractured vertebrae and 2 broken ribs. Thankfully I didn't need any surgery to correct anything but I might never be quite the same again but I'm good enough to ride again at least. Just take it nice and easy.

I was driving my parents SUV to work one morning and a rear tire blew, this caused a spin out and the other rear tire to blow as well. When I stopped spinning I was in the center lane facing oncoming traffic. I didn’t drive for a few weeks thereafter and maybe a few months until my parents got over taking me everywhere.

The good news is now you know how a tire feels prior to blowing and you’ll be more prepared if it occurs again. The bad is that you’ll be scared shitless every time a tire is a little wonky when you drive. Now, I started with short distances first; the local grocery store, up the street to the gas station, anywhere with a speed limit under about 25 and even that was to fast. Do this until you become comfortable then try the freeway, get on and get off at the next exit. This will gradually become easier but it will take time. Good luck

That is EXACTLY how I feel! Every time there's a bump in the road I'm sitting there like "Oh shit, my tire just blew". So far I've been trying to rationalize each "incident" to myself as it happens. I'll actually say out loud "No, that was ______". It's been helping quite a bit.

I was rear ended badly enough that it totaled a brand new car. You'll be nervous for a while (I kept checking my rear view mirrors whenever people were stopping behind me) but it fades eventually. Like others have said, keep driving and remember that it doesn't happen like that usually

I had to be airlifted from Northern California to Reno. I turned left into a SUV coming at highway speeds I didn't see. I'm quite lucky to be alive and even more lucky I didn't get a ticket, while technically my fault for not having the right away the cop didn't want to add to the mess (I guess, I'm grateful either way) I didn't drive till I got home from vacation and I still wince at left turns. It gets better, I just take it slow and trust myself. When I'm really feeling terrible, I don't drive, my city has a really great bus system, I don't need to take any risks I don't need to, rarely am I required to drive a car.

I had an accident shortly after borrowing dad's truck for the summer. Totaled it, but I was fine. Absolutely didn't want to drive again, parents forced me to. It took time, but it got better.

If you're not sure about buying yourself another car, rent a car for a week to give it a try. You likely won't be as afraid as you think you are. If you're too afraid to try that, you probably should go seek help from a psychologist.

I was rear ended on the highway in November, and my car was totaled. I still feel a rush of anxiety when I drive to work every morning. You just have to face it, if it's bad enough talk to a counselor or someone to get your fears out in the open and organized. It takes time unfortunately, but at least you're okay!

In the span of a few months more than years ago I was involved in a 90 car pile up, was t-boned by some jackass running a red and on the way to the hospital from that accident was rear-ended at a red light.

It took me a good long while to get on the road. I got my permit again when I was 25, almost 7 years after the accidents. I still hate driving.

Tackle it head one. The more your get out there incident free the more comfortable you will start to feel.

I have never been one of the most confident drivers. I had to take behind the wheel training and the instructor had made me feel horrible. He helped crush my belief in my ability to drive. Since driving with him I have been hard on myself and over cautious with somethings. Well, that didn't prevent me from getting into an accident. I rolled my car about 6 months after having my license. I was going around a corner a little too fast (50mph) when there was some snow on the ground. I started to fish tail and hit a bank of snow and it made my car flip once. I ended up facing the opposite direction I was headed about 10 feet into a corn field. My car was totaled and I was not injured thank god. My mom forced me to go driving the next day, it took me awhile to actually drive past the area I rolled my car (I took a different route). It took me awhile to breath when going around corners, and two years later it still takes me a bit of effort to go around a corner. The only reason I felt bad because of my accident, is because I was not hurt while I did things I shouldn't have. I felt bad because people said I should've been hurt a lot more than I was. The best advice I have is get back out there, and just relax.

I was driving from UT to CO when I ran into some black ice at 75 mph. My car did a 360 and I drifted into a snow bank with no injury to me or my car. For a really long time I couldn't drive on the highway, as the stress was too much for me. Time was the biggest factor for me getting back on the highway. And then it was just practice. It was kind of like learning how to drive again.

A little over two years ago i was involved in a bad car accident where i shattered my tibia and fucked up my foot / ankle. I also ended up with some cuts to other parts of my body and generally was in rough shape.

We were hit by a drunk driver. I was a pasenger in the car. That sort of shit stays with you. I've talked with a therapist, and that helped a bit. Another thing is time. I still get a little skittish when I see a car coming up on me from the opposite direction, thinking that he's going to swerve into me at the last second.

It's the same as getting over any painful experience in your life. You need to understand why you feel the way you do, take the necessary time to pull yourself together, and then move past it.

I highly reccomend seeing a professional, however. They were a great help to me, personally.

ive been in quite a few accidents. biggest was 100mph threw 2 telephone poles, and stepping over live downed lines twice. i was in shock an didnt realize what i did. (insert pun). everytime i get back on the road an just make sure to not do what i did again. also, IF,FI; YOLO